San Francisco has the third best public parks system in the nation

Fans of City Insider know we like lists that arbitrarily rank San Francisco compared to other cities. Well, we like them when our city does well, anyway.

Add our performance in The Trust for Public Land‘s ParkScore index as the latest to confirm what many San Franciscans already believe: our city rocks. San Francisco ranks third among the 60 largest cities in the nation when it comes to great parks. Minneapolis took first, New York took second and we tied for the bronze with Portland and Boston.

San Francisco scored No. 1 on park access – a whopping 98 percent of residents here live within a 10 minute walk of a park, and 19 percent of land within San Francisco is park space. We also scored well on parks budgeting, with $215.99 spent per resident each year. Our city got low marks, however, for its median park size of 1.9 acres. The national average is 6 acres.

Gina Fromer, California director of the Trust for Public Land, said in a statement she wasn’t surprised by the city’s high national ranking.

“As a native San Franciscan, I know how much people in this city love their parks,” she said. “The Trust for Public Land is headquartered here in San Francisco and we are proud to have helped this city provide better parks.”

Here are some fun facts about San Francisco’s parks: The oldest park is Portsmouth Square, built in 1847. No surprise that Golden Gate Park is the most visited and the biggest at 1,027 acres. There are 1.6 playgrounds per 10,000 residents. And people of all ages and income levels have solid access to nearby parks.

And a not so fun fact? A California city scored the very worst in the nation for parks. Yup, Fresno.